Barbra Streisand albums have been, ultimately,
\nHere’s Babs Singing<\/i> in one form or other. Of course, a
\ncouple of them have been
\nHere’s Babs Singing … BROADWAY!!!<\/i> which sold like crazy.
\nIn any case, coherence has always been the biggest problem in
\nStreisand albums. Most of them have no concept, albums being
\nannoying things to keep up her popularity, to fill the space
\nbetween making movies, to have enough money to water her Malibu
\nranch. There were stabs at rock music, a poppy Bee Gees
\ncollaboration and lots of half-hearted soundtracks. Truth is, her
\nsingles were legends … her albums were afterthoughts.<\/p>\n
\nHigher Ground<\/i> is centered on remembering the people who have
\ngone by. Such songs are popular nowadays; “One Sweet Day” and “I’ll
\nBe Missing You” have the long runs on Billboard, and the new one by
\nElton John (“Candle In The Wind ’97”) is slated to be the mother of
\nthem all. Despite arriving at such an atmosphere, and the fact that
\nit’s a Streisand album, it makes for some surprising failings in
\nthe long run.<\/p>\n
The title track’s backing instrumentals don’t live up to her
\nsinging. This lack of interaction makes for an awkward rendition
\nwhich sets the pattern for the rest of the album. “On Holy Ground”
\nhas Streisand so out of her element trying to sound in-gospel,
\nshe’s classically oversinging which is something she’s usually not
\nprone to do.<\/p>\n
It’s a little difficult to believe that “Leading With You Heart”
\nwas made by the same people who did “The Way We Were.” The Bergmans
\nknow how to control her voice which makes for a comfortable track
\nto both singer and listener, but it’s overall quite bland; at least
\n“Ordinary Miracles” had high notes. “Lessons to Be Learned” sounds
\ndangerously whinny (“WHHHHHHY d’I get buuuuuuurned???”), and still
\nbland.<\/p>\n
Her collaboration with Celine Dion on “Tell Him” sharply
\ncontrast Dion’s self-damaging technique and Streisand’s lush
\npreservation vocals, bringing out the worst in the former. “If I
\nCould” brings Broadway into the mix but it won’t satisfy fans of
\nthe Great White Way. Anyone else would’ve; this is Streisand. Not
\nwith “Not While I’m Around” around.<\/p>\n
But buried in this are some salvageable material. “Circle” and
\n“At the Same Time” first made me think it was another
\neveryone-get-out-on-the-streets-and-hold-hands anthem but the open
\nwonder present in her voice is quite extraordinary. The medley “The
\nWater is Wide\/Deep River” is one of her more soulful songs yet, as
\n“I Believe\/You’ll Never Walk Alone” enhances two otherwise corny,
\nwell-covered songs.<\/p>\n
The best tracks come at the end of the album. “Everything Must
\nChange” reminds me of “All in Love is Fair,” but more sophisticated
\nthanks to its less-is-more arrangement. A soon-to-be Streisand
\nclassic is “Avinu Malkeinu,” in which you can wallow in the sheer
\nwarm purity of her voice, appropriating images of Streisand’s vocal
\ncords being touched by God.<\/p>\n
The photos sum it up. She looks gorgeous in all the photos …
\nexcept the cover. Songs that, from the outside, should’ve worked
\nbut somehow manages to miss in the last crucial moment. Just like
\nmargarine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5895],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-35830","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-barbra-streisand","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35830"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35830"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}